The Violent Technologies of Extraction : Political Ecology, Critical Agrarian Studies and the Capitalist Worldeater

Offering a thought provoking theoretical conversation around ecological crisis and natural resource extraction, this book suggests that we are on a trajectory geared towards total extractivism guided by the mythological Worldeater. The authors discuss why and how we have come to live in this catastrophic predicament, rooting the present in an original perspective that animates the forces of global techno-capitalist development. They argue that the Worldeater helps us make sense of the insatiable forces that transform, convert and consume the world. The book combines this unique approach with detailed academic review of critical agrarian studies and political ecology, the militarization of nature and the conventional and ‘green’ extraction nexus. It seeks radical reflection on the role people play in the construction and perpetuation of these crises, and concludes with some suggestions on how to tackle them. "A powerful provocation and challenge to our ways of thinking about extractivism, industrialism and so-called 'progress' - refreshing, depressing and inspiring. Highly recommendable." Andrea Brock, University of Sussex, UK "The book is highly relevant and topical, and I think the general perspective is underrepresented in the literature. It thus fills a gap. It is a tour de force - and a great read. It will become a classic." Poul Wisborg, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Norway "This provocative book reveals the specter of total extractivism and what to do about it - a necessary intervention from the social sciences into the world at large." James Fairhead, University of Sussex, UK Offering a thought provoking theoretical conversation around ecological crisis and natural resource extraction, this book suggests that we are on a trajectory geared towards total extractivism guided by the mythological Worldeater. The authors discuss why and how we have come to live in this catastrophic predicament, rooting the present in an original perspective that animates the forces of global techno-capitalist development. They argue that the Worldeater helps us make sense of the insatiable forces that transform, convert and consume the world. The book combines this unique approach with detailed academic review of critical agrarian studies and political ecology, the militarization of nature and the conventional and 'green' extraction nexus. It seeks radical reflection on the role of people in the construction and perpetuation of these crises, and concludes with some suggestions on how to tackle them. Alexander Dunlap is a postdoctoral research fellow at the Centre for Development and the Environment (SUM), University of Oslo, Norway Jostein Jakobsen is a doctoral candidate at the Centre for Development and the Environment (SUM), University of Oslo, Norway.-- Provided by publisher Acknowledgments 7 Contents 8 List of Figures 9 Chapter 1: Introduction: Consuming Everything—Capitalism and the Imperative of Total Extractivism 10 Bibliography 20 Chapter 2: The Spirit and Metaphysical Form of Capitalism: Devils, Worms, Octopuses and Worldeater(s) 22 From Ghosts to Worldeaters: The Mythic Reality Hidden in Plain Sight 27 Worms, Octopuses and the Beast: Against Leviathan Revisited 28 Colonizing the Earth: The Virus and Its Technique 34 Welcome to the (Genocide) Machine 41 How Worldeating Progresses: The Rest of the Book 43 Bibliography 46 Chapter 3: Studying the Worldeater(s): Political Ecology and Critical Agrarian Studies and Their Origins, Differences and Convergence 51 Forgotten Siblings: Critical Agrarian Studies (CAS) & Political Ecology 53 The Rise of Critical Agrarian Studies 55 Political Ecology 58 Critical Agrarian Studies and Political Ecology: Difference and Convergence 59 CAS and Political Ecology: Recent Convergence and Direction 65 Conclusion 68 Bibliography 69 Chapter 4: Claws & Teeth: The Militarization of Nature 81 The Violence of Land Control and Territorialization 84 The Political Ecology of Counterinsurgency 87 Conclusion 92 Bibliography 93 Chapter 5: The Worldeater(s) in Process: Uncovering the Nexus of Conventional and ‘Green’ Extraction 99 Total Extractivism: The Trajectory of Progress 101 Greening Extractivism 102 Entrails Making: ‘Extractive Peasants’ from Mines to Plantations 104 Chained Commodities: Factory Farms and the Extraction of Vital Life 109 The Renewable-Energy Extraction Nexus 113 Conclusion 119 Bibliography 119 Chapter 6: Conclusion: Out of the Entrails—Reflections on Human Power 127 Bibliography 138 Bibliography 140 Index 168 Front Matter ....Pages i-xiii Introduction: Consuming Everything—Capitalism and the Imperative of Total Extractivism (Alexander Dunlap, Jostein Jakobsen)....Pages 1-12 The Spirit and Metaphysical Form of Capitalism: Devils, Worms, Octopuses and Worldeater(s) (Alexander Dunlap, Jostein Jakobsen)....Pages 13-41 Studying the Worldeater(s): Political Ecology and Critical Agrarian Studies and Their Origins, Differences and Convergence (Alexander Dunlap, Jostein Jakobsen)....Pages 43-72 Claws & Teeth: The Militarization of Nature (Alexander Dunlap, Jostein Jakobsen)....Pages 73-90 The Worldeater(s) in Process: Uncovering the Nexus of Conventional and ‘Green’ Extraction (Alexander Dunlap, Jostein Jakobsen)....Pages 91-118 Conclusion: Out of the Entrails—Reflections on Human Power (Alexander Dunlap, Jostein Jakobsen)....Pages 119-131 Back Matter ....Pages 133-164